Real Estate / Home loan in Poland based on my US credit score? [15]


Compared to Poland, it's very, very cushy. The opportunities you have to improve and advance yourself are enormous, IF you are willing to get off your duff and do the work.

If you are poor in the States, if they are working at McD for a living rather than for extra cash, it's almost always because you find being poor more attractive than actually putting in the work to improve your saleable skills. Dollars to doughnuts, that's the case with the OP.

Real Estate / Home loan in Poland based on my US credit score? [15]


Desperation. The only thing keep them from putting their head in the oven is the faint hopeful fantasy that someone, somewhere must think that they are worth something. It's like buying a lottery ticket with your last buck and then fantasizing what you will do with the winnings.

@Iwrite4Food

Poland isn't kind to silly dreamers, kid. It will chew you up and $hit you out without a moment's hesitation. It's not Fantasy Island, where Ricardo Montalban magically grants you your every silly wish.

If you can't make it in an extremely cushy country like the States, then you aren't going to make it anywhere else, either.

Real Estate / Home loan in Poland based on my US credit score? [15]

Nobody would ever give you a loan. You have no reliable source of income as far as a bank in Poland is concerned. Nobody would give you a loan in the States, either.

Really, you are not going to solve any problems by moving to Poland. You don't have a plan, or anything even resembling a realistic clue about how life in Poland operates, and, since you're mind is hopelessly clouded by desperation, you never will. If you were to move to Poland, or any other country, you would definitely fail and lose what little you have.

If you want to improve your lot, forget about writing and get a real job. School up for a real career.

As the great writer Robert Heinlein wrote: TANSTAAFL. There ain't no such think as a free lunch. And that's doubly true for Poland. If you want to eat, you gotta work. And work doesn't mean sitting around all day on your fat a$$ pretending you are a "writer".

Talk to a responsible adult ASAP because your life is going down the $hitter fast. You need a massive dose of reality ("I need at least a 110 m2 two bedroom apartment in an attractive location, but I'm on Medicaid" - spewed my cornflakes laughing at that one)

Snap out of it, kid. Your dream isn't going to come true. In Poland or elsewhere. Unless you do some actual work.

Study / Delayed Arrival in Warsaw university of Technology [8]


It's not a few days delay. It's a few days after the end of a rather generous six or seven week long delay. The students are well into the semester now, and the OP would have trouble catching up with a month and a half of work.


Blame has nothing to do with it.

Study / Delayed Arrival in Warsaw university of Technology [8]

@Hashim_ahmed

Probably not. Course sequences start in September, and the second semester assumes you have completed the first part of the course. January intakes are generally for students who are transferring from one Polish university to another.

You have to wait until next September.

Study / Delayed Arrival in Warsaw university of Technology [8]

@Hashim_ahmed

There is no point in going to Poland now. You will just have to turn around and come back, resulting in a big waste of money. Also, there is the risk that you will be refused entry, and that will have a big negative impact on future visa applications.

Forget showing up at the university and expecting them to change their minds. They won't. Not in a million years.

You can always try again next year. Just be more careful about the timing of your visa.

Use the year to beef up your Math and English, and also learn some Polish.

Work / I'm interested in teaching in Poland and I need some help. [33]

@pawian

Couple of things. Demand for teachers from abroad has plummeted as schools can rely on the pool of native speakers already in the country, who are more flexible and easier to work with than recent arrivals. Also, there is now a large pool of Poles who are able to teach English. Demand for non-EU teachers from the US, Canada and Australia hit the skids in 2004, when Poland joined the EU. British and Irish teachers developed a reputation for alcohol abuse and skirt-chasing, which drove down demand for them.

On the flip side, wages have stagnated while cost of living has increased, making the job far less attractive to potential teachers outside the country. It simply does not make much financial sense to move to Poland to teach anymore. Not even as a way of spending a year goofing off. Experience in teaching English in private language schools has also lost it value on the job market, and provides no tangible benefits. There are just many other better ways to spend a year.

Law / I have a spouse visa to Poland (Schengen), can I travel without my spouse? [5]

@drjaylan

No. The whole point of the spouse visa is so that you can be together with your wife. It goes against the purpose of the visa if you will be traveling without her.

Polonia / Procedure for obtaining a student visa at the Polish embassy in New Delhi? [26]


The only way to get an appointment is on the website. Emails are ignored and erased without even being read.

Yes, it is difficult to get an appointment. All you can do is keep trying. It may take weeks or even months, just don't give up. Slots disappear within minutes of being posted, so make sure you are on the site at the right times.

Nobody can help you. If anyone says they can, they are a scam artist that will just steal your money and give you nothing.

Study / Study in Poland or in Czech Republic? [7]


If you can't study in a good program at a good university in a good country, then you are wasting your time and money studying in one of the poorer countries in the EU. The degree will be worthless.

It would be much, much better to study at a good university in your own country. Or to work in sales and develop a stellar record in big-ticket B2B sales, which is worth a lot more than any business degree. Or in any job where you can demonstrate with documentation that you made your employer a lot of money. Ability to generate revenue is what employers in the business world look at, not diplomas or certificates, especially from obscure universities in Eastern Europe.

Travel / How much will taxi/bus or train from Gdansk airport to Slupsk cost? [16]


Generally, in Poland, buses do tend to be a bit faster than trains. There are exceptions, of course. A little cheaper, too.

Trains are considerably more comfortable and relaxed, especially if you are larger or older. Train stations are generally more pleasant than bus stations. Even if it takes a bit longer, I would pick the train over the bus every time. The extra time and cash is worth the extra comfort to me.

If you're in a hurry, though, or if saving a few złoty is a serious matter, then you might prefer the bus, especially, like I said, you are young and petite, and don't mind hanging out it a seedy bus station and having a less comfortable and relaxed journey.

Different courses for different horses. Depends on what is important to you.

Travel / How much will taxi/bus or train from Gdansk airport to Slupsk cost? [16]

@JadeDragon

It's a matter of personal preference.

The older, the bigger, and the chiller you are, the more likely you will prefer the train.

The younger, the tinier, and the more spastic you are, the more likely you will prefer the bus.

Law / Student visa: Documents to prove residency in Poland [3]

@KRKGuy2020

Do you own your residence? If not, there is nothing you can do. If so, then accompany your guest to the UM with a wydruk księgi wieczystej and your DO and tell them to meldować him as your guest. Unless things have changed, it's a simple, no-fuss procedure that takes a couple of minutes, tops.

Life / Online phone directory Poland [10]

Write to them and ask them. Or ask a common friend to give them your phone number and tell them to call you back.

There are no phone books or websites where you can look up phone numbers because of Poland's very strict privacy laws. Poles can get very upset if you get their phone number from anyone else but them, even a common friend. It's very poor etiquette to give out someone's phone number or email address without their permission.

Work / Salary in Intel, Gdansk for Software Engineer [2]

@Bob11

First of all, the very first thing you should get through your head is that supporting a foreign wife and school-age children is obscenely expensive in Poland. They might be giving you some cock and bull story about how the cost of living in Poland is low, but that is definitely not true once children enter into the equation. Tuition in an English-medium school is expensive.

So the only way you are going to make any money out of this is if you leave your family behind in India. Their quality of life will be much higher there than you could provide for them in Poland.

Five years ago, companies in Poland were hiring a lot of IT people from India, That has stopped for two reasons. The first is that there has been a large influx of Ukrainians since that time, who for several reasons are much better job candidates than Indians. The other reason is that Indians have caught on that these jobs in Poland are underpaid and lead nowhere, and are not all that useful for gaining entry into the richer countries of the EU.

If you goal is to get into the UK, for example, then work on getting a job in the UK. And rely on your network of real-world contacts to find that job rather than recruiters, agents or web-sites. All the best jobs are advertised solely mouth-to-mouth, face-to-face in the real world. Recruiters, agents and websites get only the crappy jobs.

Bottom line: if you want to get into the UK or other richer country, then taking a job in Poland (or any of the poorer countries of the EU) is probably a waste of time, especially if you are dragging your family along. It might have made sense ten years ago, but not anymore.

Also, if an employer requires you to tell your salary requirements and is reluctant to make an offer of their own, run. This is a standard procedure for determining whether you are an idiot or not. They know that Indians ALWAYS drastically lowball what they expect to earn, unaware of how expensive it is to live in Poland as a non-Polish speaking foreigner. Once they figure out you are an idiot, they know they can use and abuse you however and whenever they want. As them to make an offer first. Otherwise, you ALWAYS lose.

Classifieds / Translation from Swedish needed [10]


It doesn't mean anything in Swedish, or any other language.

The sole reference to the "word" I could find was to a 1876 German novel. In one chapter, there is a folk song sung in a tavern with the words:

"A magpie sits in a tree.
Fifalleralla".

With "fifalleralla" apparently representing the sound of a magpie singing.

Like "Cockadoodle Doo" is supposed to represent the sound of a rooster crowing.

The "fif" element is a vague reference to a whistling sound, pfeiffen in German. The rest is nonsense syllables.

Food / What's up with all the Georgian food in Poland now? [12]

I think it has more to do with the even more sizable Ukrainian population.

Though, come to think of it, the Chaczapuri chain restaurants appeared before the influx of Ukrainians. Perhaps their success inspired others to follow in their footsteps.

Work / Salary 18000 pln per month in Gdansk [10]


If your family is eligible, you cannot collect for the oldest child. So 500 PLN max, if that.


Probably not. You're going to have to make sure that your apartment is conveniently located near transport to your workplace and your children's school. Cheaper apartments tend to be inconveniently located, or have other problems. Budget 3200 PLN for a basic, no frills two-bedroom apartment.


Oh, brother! You really underestimated this one. A lot. Unless you have had your wife and kids taxidermized, they are going to cost you a lot more than this.

You have a wife and two kids that will be in a strange foreign country where they don't speak the local language and will require abundant recreational activities to keep their minds occupied, especially during the long, dark and depressing winter (twenty-four hours a day, every single day, for five long months). You're going to have a film-worthy case of cabin fever before Christmas comes along.

Your wife especially is going to need some recreational activity that forces her to get out of the apartment and encounter other human beings or she will turn into a bitter, anti-social hermit or sink into depression, or just demand to be sent with the kids back to India before long. And I don't mean shopping and doing chores for the family. That's going to cost money.

The kids will also need some activities like sports, music lessons, language lessons, or the like or they will deteriorate into couch potatoes.

Really, with your ambitious savings goals, it would be far, far easier on everyone if you were to leave the family at home in India.

And even more so, if saving money and/or paying off debts is a priority, then moving to a country where savings potential is abysmally low like Poland is an unwise move, especially considering that the cost of living for you as a foreigner with school-age children is very high. Pick a country where your savings potential is much higher, the quality of life for your family would be much higher, and the cost of keeping your family is not as oppressive. Like one of the English-speaking countries, where you and your family will be able to communicate with the locals.

Language / Spelling of a Polish name? [38]


Surely, they are utter coincidence. Despite superficial orthographic similarities, they are completely different and unrelated in every single way. There's no murkiness here.

Food / Where can I buy Fresh Trout (Pstrąg) in or around Kraków? [6]

@pawian

Also, please stop resurrecting long dead threads.

Food / Where can I buy Fresh Trout (Pstrąg) in or around Kraków? [6]

I highly doubt it. Trout, yes. Fresh trout, probably not. Look at the gills. If they are bright screaming rosy more pink than red, they are fresh. If the color is duller or darker, it's past its prime. If the gills have been cut out, it is definitely past its prime. Dollars to doughnuts, those you see in the hypermarkets have had their gills cut out.

Trout starts deteriorating very quickly once it is killed. It doesn't retain its freshness even one day even if properly refrigerated. And while fresh trout is sublime, trout that isn't perfectly fresh is blah at best, and disgusting at worst.

A good rule to follow is never buy a trout you have not personally seen alive and kicking. Just like lobsters. And be prepared to pay the price. And, most of all, ice it well immediately and cook it as soon as humanly possible, within a few hours at most.

Language / Spelling of a Polish name? [38]


Theoderic and Theodore are two completely unrelated names.

Theoderic is Germanic, from stems "theod" (not "theo"), meaning "people", and "ric", meaning "rule".

Theodore is Greek, from stems "theo", meaning "God", and "dor", meaning gift.

Any similarity is purely coincidental.

Work / Salary 18000 pln per month in Gdansk [10]

@Bkt

Saving 8000 on those wages is totally out of the question. You might not be able to save anything at all with a wife and two school-age children in tow.

Here are your costs:

1500 PLN a month just to be in Poland (total travel and relocation costs to and from Poland, visa, permits, etc, for four people, amortized over twelve months).

2700 to 3200 two bedroom apartment, all bills included except for internet.

At least 2000 PLN groceries, household expenses, clothes, shoes, snacks and drinks away from home.

3000 to 5000 tuition for two school-age children.

Plus school supplies, recreation, internet, phone, etc.

Forget about even the cheapest car or even the cheapest vacations outside Poland. You can't afford them, so no point in including them in the budget.

That's over 10,000 right there. 18,000 gross is 12,000 net. So maximum theoretical savings is 2000 PLN a month if you live frugally. Which you will grow tired of soon, so your savings will be less.

It would be best to come alone and leave the wife and kids behind in your country. School-age children that have to go to international schools are a major expense that you cannot afford if you plan to save that much money, and even the wife is more than you can afford.

If you need to save money or pay of debts, then Poland is not the place for you. The savings potential is far too low to make it worthwhile.

Actually, even in the richer countries of the West it is going to be hard to save 8000 PLN a month with a wife and two kids. You'd have to leave them at home in your own country wherever you go.

Work / Information about jobs for Indian students in Poland [286]


Less than enough. Way less than enough. You forget that, unlike a Pole, he has to pay to be in Poland. That means his total travel-related expenses, documents and all other expenses related to the move to and from Poland have to come out of his income. Plus anything he agreed to pay his "agent". That leaves him empty-handed or worse.

Forget savings. He might have to wire his family in India for help to get back home when he realizes he has been scammed.

Anyone offering unskilled work in Poland to people from third world countries is a scam artist. There is zero demand for unskilled labor from outside the EU in Poland that cannot be satisfied by Ukrainians a hundred times over. Chances are exceedingly low that the OP has received a genuine and legal job offer, and even lower that he will ever receive adequate compensation, if any.

Work / Information about jobs for Indian students in Poland [286]


No. It is not enough to survive. You will lose money on the deal. That is very, very bad pay.

There are no good paying blue-collar jobs for Indians in Poland, It's a waste of time to look for one. Try the richer countries in Western Europe.

Work / Work in Poland after finishing university in the UK (business management) [3]


If you're able to do sales, especially big-ticket sales, the world is your oyster. The sky is the limit for any highly effective salesperson who speaks both languages at native level.

Otherwise, working in Poland is probably going to be a lot less financially rewarding than working in the UK, at least at your level. To the point where very few people would be tempted. Remember that it is not the gross or net income that is important as much as the savings potential, the amount of money you can put away in your bank account at the end of the month. In that respect, Poland lands far, far short of the UK.

That might change once you get abundant experience. But you are probably better off getting that experience in the UK than in Poland, if only for the savings potential.

If by "non-work related reasons" you mean a girl, then think twice. Nothing kills love quicker than lack of cash, and in your case, the steep opportunity costs you will be incurring will sting a lot, possibly to the point where you will resent having made such a great sacrifice and where that will taint any relationship.

As far as matters of the heart go, the advice I often give is that if it does not make sense in dollars and cents, then it probably makes no sense at all. If she won't move to the UK to be with you, then you might have to consider cutting you losses and find a more suitable mate. Better now at the early stages so that it hurts less and you both can start looking for someone else with little trouble.

Study / Where to study International Relations / Business, Finance in English: Warsaw University or Jagiellonian [10]

@Ravi1235

The University of Warsaw is a good school...... for courses taught in the Polish language.

Courses taught in the English language at Polish universities are almost always of poor quality, and a diploma from an English-language course will not help you find a job, in Poland or anywhere else.

If you want to study international relations, then either study at the best universities in your own country, or at a top university in a richer country where you know the language of instruction.

Otherwise, studying international relations is a complete waste of time and money.

Work / Is a salary of 2,550 zloty enough for living in Warsaw? [6]

@Zlatko

You could survive. Barely. But I wouldn't call it living.

Study / Polish citizens non EU citizen step daughter - study in Poland [3]

No. Not unless they actually become EU citizens.

Language / Polish-American Grandma used to say this word! [18]


It's German dialect, not Polish. Puppke is a diminutive of Puppe, which means doll in English, so little doll is a good translation.

Your grandma apparently lived in an area under German or Austrian rule at the time, and/or spoke a dialect of Polish which was heavily influenced by German.